March of Happiness (1999)

Original title

天馬茶房

Directed by

Lin Cheng-Sheng

Genre

drama film, war film, romance film

Country

Taiwan

Runtime

1h 33m

Rating

6.4 of 10 from 7 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A teenage romance blossoms between members of a performing troupe during the Japanese occupation and the 228 Massacre in Taiwan. The story follows a young couple as they navigate love and loss against a backdrop of political turmoil and historical events.

bittersweethistoricalromanticpoignantslow-pacedmelancholicintimatetender

What happens

March of Happiness is a 1999 Taiwanese film directed by Lin Cheng-sheng. It tells the story of a teenage romance in a performing troupe set against the backdrop of the Japanese occupation and the 228 Massacre. Several characters are either historical or based on historical people. The film was Taiwan's official Best Foreign Language Film submission at the 72nd Academy Awards, but did not manage to receive a nomination. The film was also screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. There are two slightly different versions. In the TV version shown on Formosa Television, the film ends with both protagonists singing the theme song together, even though the male protagonist was already dead. In the cinema version, the film ends with the female protagonist singing the song by herself in a much slower tempo. The TV version is about 9 minutes longer. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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